Customer Reviews:
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 A great book January 6, 2002
This book may do for the Scots what Thomas Cahill did for the Irish when he wrote "How the Irish Saved Western Civilization." It's a highly readable and impressive piece of scholarship on an aspect of history that's been overlooked or ignored: How much our modern culture owes to the people of Scotland. It neatly manages to celebrate the Scottish achievement without veering into any kind of ethnic chauvinism. The author, incidentally, is not Scottish--he's merely a historian and a storyteller, telling us something we probably haven't heard before. People of Scottish ancestry will love this book, but so will anyone who enjoys learning about how we became who we are.
Great summary of the scope of Scot's history and influence January 6, 2002
I enjoy an author who is able to show historical links over time, and who is able and provide a coherent "story" of how the world we enjoy came to be. I think Arthur Herman has done that extraordinarily well, and has integrated some of the dusty academics (Hume, Adam Smith, et. al.) in a way that makes them interesting (and even exciting?). If you are from a state which saw immigrations of Scots in the 1715's, 1745's or 1800's, you will be fascinated by how they brought their ways of thinking to this country and influenced how you (or others)think today.
A fine, wink-of-an-eye tribute January 2, 2002
I loved this book, in all its merry, whimsical wisdom. The irony and humor-impaired should be forewarned, however.
 Uneasy January 2, 2002
None of the information given in this book is documented with footnotes. There are some general attributes given for each chapter at the end of the book. It just makes me uneasy that the material does not come with adequate sources.Especially after one glaring error is to be found throughout the description of the religious clashes between the Scots and the English.The author refers to the Church of England as being the Episcopal Church. It is not. That would be the Anglican Church as opposed to the Episcopal Church or religion in the U.S. The Anglican Church became the Episcopal Church,in this country, after the Revolutionary War. The English monarchy is the head of the Church of England and we fought that deadly war to found our country's independence from the English monarchy.
I found that I couldn't really finish this book because of my doubts.
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